Lo bueno y lo malo

“In this age of technology and constant movement, there is a great need for ethical life; the men of the new millennium have inclinations toward strengthening moral values ​​and improving the quality of communication. It is the search for a principle that transcends current laws; whereas politics is a collective agreement of civility that has universal value, morality is an individual imperative that is also valuable to all.” –Patrick Charpenel, curator

Galeria Nara Roesler presents Lo bueno y lo malo, an exhibition curated by Patrick Charpenel to celebrate the expansion of the gallery, which added 700 square meters of exhibition space. It also marks the 20th edition of Roesler Hotel, a program of curatorial projects that run parallel to the gallery program.

In the group show Lo bueno y lo malo, guest curator Charpenel presents works by two collectives and twelve artists who discuss the political practices of neoliberalism, the repercussions of the 2011 market crash, and the global economic slowdown that is currently taking hold of the UK, US, Southern Europe and Japan. The exhibition features installations, videos, photographs, performance, 16mm film, and sculptures produced between 1990 and 2011. Using different means of expression and artistic languages, the works of these artists suggest the need to overcome old dogmas of the production and consumption system in order to create a new sense of moral commitment. Acting as aesthetic gestures, they touch upon and re-read the political and economic hegemonies of globalization.

About the curatorCharpenel, who has a graduate degree in philosophy, develops intense work both as a curator and collector pointing out the paradox and ambiguities of the contemporary world. He has presented a large number of exhibitions in several places, both in Mexico and abroad, such as: Gabriel Orozco, Palacio de las Artes, Mexico City; Paseos/ Walks by artist Francis Alÿs, Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City; Franz West, Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art, Mexico City; Inter play, Moore Space, Miami, USA. He has also published several reviews in specialized magazines and is a member of the Board of the Centre Pompidou-Latin America, Paris, France. His collection is comprised of a set of heterogeneous artworks, which, nevertheless, can be related according to some lines of research, such as the telematic phenomenon, the structure of global economy and the extension of the artistic experience to the social sphere. He is currently the director of the JUMEX Collection/Foundation.

About Roesler HotelIdealized in 2006, the project began as an expanded network: an opportunity to invite artists and curators to develop projects and showcase their works. Up to now, there have been nineteen editions, among them, Otras Floras (2008), curated by José Roca, and solo shows by Paul Ramirez Jonas (2011), Sutapa Biswas (2008), Rosário Lopez Parra (2008) as well as many others. With the expansion of Galeria Nara Roesler, Roesler Hotel will be taking on a new facet by becoming a permanent program, running parallel to the gallery in which renowned curators in the contemporary art scene are invited to collaborate. This space intends to provoke new ways of thinking about and producing art, articulating and strengthening a network of artists, galleries and curators working locally and abroad.

About Galeria Nara RoeslerFor over thirty years, Nara Roesler has continuously promoted Latin American art to a local and international body of collectors, curators, and scholars. In 1989, she founded Galeria Nara Roesler in São Paulo, Brazil, as an arena to expand the boundaries of art practice, and create a dialogue between Latin American and Brazilian artists nationally and abroad. Representing some of the most interesting artists working in Latin America, such as Hélio Oiticica, Antonio Dias, Paulo Bruscky, Cao Guimarães, Melanie Smith, and Alberto Baraya, the gallery directs much of its interest towards apposing art practices from the late 60s onwards with their contemporaneous and convergent ramifications. Now in 2012, the gallery welcomes Vik Muniz into its roster, inaugurates a new exhibition space, and re-launches the curatorial project Roesler Hotel.